Unit #10 - Latin American Government

Cuba

a country in the Caribbean with an autocratic government in the form of a communist dictatorship

dictatorship

Cuba established this type of rule; Castro had all the power and was not elected by the people

presidential democracy

citizens DIRECTLY elect both the president and the legislature; examples are Brazil and Mexico

parliamentary democracy

prime minister works closely with the parliament because the legislature chooses the leader

democracy

rule of all; has the MOST citizen participation

autocracy

rule of one; has the LEAST amount of citizen participation; an example is Cuba

Communist Party

plans and controls Cuba; the only political party in Cuba

Mexico

Latin American country in North America that has a federal system and presidential democracy

Brazil

Latin American country in South America that has a federal system and presidential democracy

political party

an organization which represents a specific political agenda and socioeconomic positions within a given nation

prime minister

the one who holds the most power in a parliamentary system

one disadvantage of a democracy

length of time it takes citizens to vote

Head of State

a symbolic leader of the country, but not the person with the true power in government

Chief Executive

the person in government who holds the most power; they are responsible for the day-to-day running of the country

Federal Republic

government in which power is divided between the national (federal) government and the states; citizens vote for elected officials to represent them

popular vote

votes cast by citizens in an election

specialization

the process of an organization concentrating its labor and resources on a certain type of production to be more efficient and create a comparative advantage for an economy

Scarcity

not having enough of something

industries

a group of businesses that produce certain goods or services

currency exchange

system that converts from one currency to another so that goods can be bought and sold between countries with different economies